


It’s because you were there.

by IceLite1011



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Ficlet, Goodbyes, Implied Kagami Taiga/Kuroko Tetsuya, Last Game Movie, Last Game Spoilers, M/M, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 12:06:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14715737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceLite1011/pseuds/IceLite1011
Summary: I remember thinking how ironic it was that the first time we ever shook hands was the moment we said goodbye.*Ficlet*





	It’s because you were there.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little ficlet about the airport scene from the Last Game movie that I might as well post. I was challenged by a friend to write in first person, which isn't something I normally do, so I had fun with this.

_“Thanks for everything, Kuroko.”_

_“Good luck, Kagami-kun.”_

 

I could remember the way his grip tightened as we shook hands once. I remember thinking how ironic it was that the first time we ever shook hands was the moment we said goodbye, and I remember thinking how structured and polite his smile was—something that was the exact opposite of the Kagami-kun I knew.

As my fingers slipped free from his hold for what I thought would be the last time, I know that I was fighting back tears. I wanted to grab onto his calloused hands so tightly he would never be able to break free. I wanted to bury my face in his broad chest so he would never be able to see me in such an embarrassing state.

I wanted to sob, _Kagami-kun, please don’t go_.

But I knew that would be selfish of me. Kagami-kun was meant to fly free, to not be constricted within the smaller world of high school basketball in Japan. He was meant to rise to the top, to be the best of the best, and attending a strong high school in America in order to become an NBA player was the first step. As his shadow, I was supposed to be his biggest supporter, to be the one who wished for his success more than anyone else did. And I knew that. I knew that well.

So I parted with my best friend, my light, my partner, with the brightest smile I could offer and a firm handshake. Or so I thought.

I glanced at the departure board one last time, my eyes finding Kagami-kun’s flight to LAX in a heartbeat. I turned to make my leave—to return to a life devoid of daily burger rounds and one-on-ones—when I heard his voice once again.

_KUROKO!_

It was a voice I’d grown so used to hearing, so used to responding to with a grin and a fist bump. It was a voice that was always spirited and genuine, one that could find me no matter how much I tried to melt into the background. And at the time, it pulled me back towards him like wildfire.

Kagami-kun was always brutally honest, whether he was telling me that I sucked at everything besides passing or that I was “too damn skinny and needed to eat more”. But the words he relayed to me at the airport that day were more passionate and emotional than I’d ever heard from him.

 

_Who I am now is all thanks to you. It’s because you were there._

 

His straightforward words made me still, as time seemed to slow down and the people walking between us became colorless blurs. All I could focus on were his fiery red eyes, with tears glittering in them like bursts of fireworks.

How was it that Kagami-kun took the words that had been trembling on the tip of my tongue for months, and threw them right back at me? Words that I’d forcefully pushed down even though they threatened to break free like a tightly coiled spring, words that I swore I would keep locked away until Kagami-kun was thousands of kilometers away, words that were so pure and simple but held so much underlying meaning.

Kagami-kun spoke those words so easily, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, as tears I’d never seen before this moment streamed down his chiseled face.

I felt my eyes burn and my breathing shallow, the careful wall that I'd built up around myself crumbling as my own tears welled up and spilled down my reddened cheeks.

 

_I will always be your shadow._

 

 We held up our fists towards each other, smiling through our tears.


End file.
